Oxen/Cattle Health/Temperament Issue

Do you want the ox to die or to get better?

Temperament issues are easy. Some oxen are just SOBs. They can kick and are pretty much useless if they don't stand still.

If they're anything like Whiteface (Hereford) cattle there's basic intransigence -- pure unadulterated cussedness. And destructiveness. They can do a number on a barn if they've a mind to, tear down fences, wanderlust, and that old saying, "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" had to be about cattle, most likely Whiteface.

They'll also run you down if they don't want to go where you want them to go. And they're bad about leaving their new calves laying down and forgetting where they left them.

Could be worms. Worms can kill an animal but if treated it would be right as rain. Could be bloat from bad feeding, also potentially fatal.

I'd go with hoof or foot rot. Nice stinky disease. It's a bacteria, so in the 1800s wasn't too easy to treat. You need to get the infected animal out of the herd immediately, which could be how your characters acquire the ox. (Understand that the market price for a live ox is always above the price the ox would get as hamburg.)

Treatment back then would be wrapping the hooves in some weird concoction. Anything that dries out the hoof, and better yet makes it look like something is happening would work. What actually makes a difference is getting the animal out of a wet environment and getting the hooves dry. Takes a few months on dry terrain for the ox to be cured. So gets sick in the fall, your characters take care of him all winter, next spring he's good to go for plowing.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

Treatment of footrot shouldn't take months unless it is relapsing. It would take more than the days quoted here if it's the 1800s- http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/mus...ders_of_the_interdigital_space_in_cattle.html

A bad case with necrosis would take longer so maybe Jim was considering that. Cattle feet are funny with how crap can get between the toes. So necrotic hoof has to grow out and if it keeps getting shit in there, the bacteria start to grow but daily treatment gets them to not do any firther damage.

A wet spring could cause a major relapse as the ox started to do work, infuriating the poor characters (at which point they can slaughter it and pull the plow themselves!)

I'm sorry, bad way of explaining it. The foot rot back then would get cured in a couple of weeks (modern medicine reduces the time down a lot). But the damage to the hoof prevents the ox from being comfortable walking for several month, as the hoof has to regrow. (You would cut out the rotten parts back then.)

And as Fenika points out, it would be essential the following spring to keep the hooves dry to prevent a re-occurrance.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

The ox may have gotten into loco weed.

They can get emaciated and difficult to handle. An unscrupulous processor might still buy such an animal because they get paid significantly more than the farmer for livestock, being a rung higher on the processing chain and could buy such an animal for a song. However an honest processor would refuse to buy it for fear of it transmitting some disease to the consumer.

For people with good knowledge of livestock and more time than money it's not unusual for them to go to auctions and pick over the rejects, take them home and nurse them back to health. Generally animals that get nursed back to health remember that and like their new owners.

SquareSails said:

GeorgeK, locoweed is also a great idea, but does it grow in Pennsylvania? .

Click to expand...

Oops, forgot about that stipulation

In terms of temperament there is also the "make me" ox. You might want him to pull the wagon, but he isn't really into it. That can be a tad frustrating.

instead of loco weed, ergot poisoning from moldy hay

If you live in PA, and not Ireland, spend a week-end in Amish PA, do a little research. Put your hands on an ox. To do that, stop at a country store, ask if they know someone you can talk to. They will and you'll get real info. I've spent a bit of time around cattle but it's a lot different now than when you are talking about.
I imagine a google search will locate somebody you could interview as well. There will also be veterinary info regarding both animals that is at least as accurate as you'll get here on the forum.

The real treatment back then was the cutting off of the infected parts, good drainage of the hoof, and dry land to stand on.

But I think a poultice of some turpentine, whiskey, mustard, garlic, and maybe rattlesnake poison would be good. But if you want something more likely to work, contact a herbalist and ask how they'd treat athelete's foot. Remember back then, successful treatment of foot rot was a lot of showmanship, picking an ox likely to survive, and then good basic care -- cut the bad away, let the wound drain, and dry ground. If you were someone doing this, the last part of this wasn't mentioned.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

Something as simple as a tick? Could make the cow all irritable but easily cured once removed.